Evolutionism the religion

From: Gactimus (gactimus_at_xrs.net)
Date: 12/06/04 

Date: Mon, 06 Dec 2004 01:02:27 GMT

I copied this from the talk.origins feed back (April 2000):

    "How so? It has no deity. No worship. No priests. No sabbath. No
     commandments. No inerrant doctrine-- it is constantly undergoing
     revision. It has no reliance on the supernatural or miracles. It has
     no penalties for unbelief. Belief in evolution carries no promises of
     reward. It is acceptable for any deity, including Jehovah, to be
     inserted in the forefront, taking credit for the progression of
     evolution. How, then, is evolution a religion? Are other scientific
     theories, such as the theory of relativity, also a religion? How does
     one distinguish and determine this?"

A religion is essentially an attitude to the world as a whole. Thus
evolution, for example, may prove as powerful a principle to co-ordinate
men’s beliefs and hopes as God was in the past. Such ideas underlie the
various forms of Rationalism, the Ethical movement and scientific
Humanism.

Humanism: An outlook that places man and his concerns at the center of
interest. Modern Humanism, which does away with traditional Christianity,
is characterised by its faith in the power of human beings to create their
own future, collectively and personally.

In other words, evolution = religion. That is, people (not God) set
whatever rules they want. In practice, this usually becomes 'might makes
right', including the tyranny of the majority.

Evolutionists have demonstrated that Evolution is not a "Hebrew" religion.
 

Dictionary.com states the definition of 'religon' is :

1. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as
    creator and governor of the universe.
2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a
    spiritual leader.
4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious
    devotion.

Let's measure Evolution to see if it fits any of those descriptions:

1. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as
    creator and governor of the universe

In evolution, the 'creator' is Nature and Natural Causes. Natrual process
'created and governs' the universe. Evolutionists definately have a
reverence for Nature.

2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.

A religious order is a subdivision of a religious group. In the case of
Evolution, I would say the religous group is humanism.

3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a
    spiritual leader.

Darwin was a humanist. He is the 'father of evolution'. I would say this
description fits.

4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious
    devotion.

I would say that describes evolutionists (at least the ones I have
encountered here and elsewhere) very well.

By the way - just fun the fun of it - lets analize the quote:

Evolutionists Diety - Nature, man
Evolutionists worship - Darwin Day Celebrations
Evolutionists Priests - evolutionary scientists and theorists (such as
Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagin, etc)
Evolutionists Sabbath - earth day, darwin day, etc
Evolutionist commandments - laws of nature (such as laws of thermodynamics,
gravity, etc)
Evolutionist inerrant doctrine - man created in present form by nature and
chance not the God of the Bible
Evolution is constantly undergoing revision - glad to see you guys admit
that. (I recently read 'another' poster on this board claimed that there
would be revisions to the laws of gravity before there would be revisions
to the ToE.)
It has no reliance on the supernatural or miracles - Macro-evolution is a
miracle. It cannot be observed or duplicated.
No penalties for unbelief - oh yeah? Tell that to the countless creation
scientists who are ostracized and denied research grants (or remain
unpublished) because they espouse a Young Earth creation model.
Carries no promises of reward - Live your life the way YOU want... persue
immorality and selfish pleasure - do whatever makes you feel good - after
all, there is No biblical authority - there is no absolute right and wrong
because we are just a result of random chance, time and chemistry.

It is acceptable for any deity, including Jehovah, to be inserted in the
forefront, taking credit for the progression of evolution.

Any good Modern Humanist will tell you it's not important what you
believe, but the passion and degree to which you believe (have you ever
heard - it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you stand for
something). Basically evolution is a humanist religious order, and
humanists believe that they can choose what they want to believe because
they are ultimately only responsible to man and not God.

Are other scientific theories, such as the theory of relativity, also a
religion?

Theory of relativity 1) is mathmatically viable (evolution defies
mathmatical probability), 2) can be tested and observed by
experimentation, 3) requires no 'blind faith'

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Double Standard
    ... work of a fiction writer whose creativity exceeds George Lucas, ... were using dry irony) I think that makes it a far superior read than ... And yet here you are reading stuff concocted by evolution ... confined to religion, my friend. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Evolutionism the religion
    ... Belief in evolution carries no ... How, then, is evolution a religion? ... > scientific Humanism. ... Many of the scientists who work in the field of evolution are not ...
    (sci.cognitive)
  • Re: Why Should Evolution be Taught as Science in Schools?
    ... some religion, ... aspect of evolution. ... "changed from the last common ancestor of the species being ... itself, one of those moral principles, any more than a sculptor's ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Fear keeps archaic beliefs alive
    ... evolution as accepted science and urges those who espouse ... engage in recreational sex without fear of pregnancy. ... against female equality in the modern world--specifically, ... one of the more obvious features about religion is how it ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: It is the most absurd ploy in which radical Christian fascists pretend that they are any better
    ... All books supporting religion are alike. ... In any event, religion's interface with science ... For Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion: http://richarddawkins.net/godDelusion), ... Not all biologically based hypotheses for the evolution of religion ...
    (soc.culture.iranian)